Oh surREAL!

Ika-26 ng Pebrero, 2017 Mula sa isang nakakapagod na namang linggo sa paaralan, sa wakas, wikend na. Makakapagpahinga na ulit ako. At sa wikend na ito, ibang pahinga ang gagawin ko. Pahingang hindi nakakulob sa apat na sulok ng aking kwarto, kung ‘di pahinga sa isang malayong lugar kasama ang pamilya ko. Tara na sa Bataan! Sa wakas! Ajenda sa araw na ito: ·          Gumising nang maaga, kailangan bago mag ikapito ng umaga ay nakaalis na ng bahay. ·          10am – kailangan ay nasa Sinagtala na sa Orani, Bataan para sa maagang selebrasyon ng kaarawan ni Tito Danny ·          11am-11:30am – oras ng kain at kwentuhan bago mag-ikot sa lugar ·          11:30-2pm – oras ng pag-iikot at paliligo sa mga pool (maaaring pumili kung ano man ang gustong unahin) ·          2pm – umahon na at magbanlaw ·          3pm-6pm—oras muli ng kwentuhan at pag-iikot hanggang lumubog ang araw ·          6:30pm—uwian na J Sinagtala. Kung susumahin ay ito’y isang lug

“We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.”   –Andrew, The Breakfast Club Watching The Breakfast Club, three realizations came into mind: First, as cliché as it may sound, nothing is always as it seems. There are deceptions all around society: from the actress that promised there was no surgery involved in her youthful face at the age of 50 to the politician that said he will rid the country of drugs in 6 months. There is always deceit present. But when we look at society nowadays, like the scenes in The Breakfast Club, we can assume that people actually like being deceived. People like being deceived through the formation of stereotypes in society—putting people into boxes of supposed facts that society perceives to be appropriate and true. Things are not always as they seem; same goes with people, especially when you look at them through the eyes of society. Stereotyping is deceit, and when the time comes an individual rejects

Encountering Emmanuel Levinas and his Philosophy of the Face in class made three striking realizations come into mind: First, a person’s face will always be a person’s face. Emotions may trigger certain contortions on it, but it will always be a person’s face. It will always serve as a frontline to his identity. The expressive eyes, the lopsided smile, the wrinkles, the scars, the blemishes—all of it him. Even though people are taught to look beyond the physical aspects of an individual, there will always be a sliver of realization that what you actually see is what you actually get. A person’s face will always be a person’s face. People aren’t just dolls with switchable heads—putting on a new one when you’ve already gotten bored of the old one. People have their own irreplaceable, unique, and individual faces—irreplaceable, unique, and individual identities. Second, the eyes aren’t the windows to the soul, the face is. The eyes are very expressive, People can tell a lo

Hi. I created you, and you, and you, and you, and you. You don’t believe me. I know. But I did. You see, I was fascinated with the world before it even came to be, and because of that I loved it. I witnessed how the sun loved the moon though they could never meet. I watched as the stars danced in the night sky, circling the universe, clinging to every ray of light. I sought this rock you live in today, and wrapped it in a cloth cut from my own robe to make it a home. I oversaw the bond formed between the land and the sky, and how the sea would send kisses to the shoreline whenever they touched.. I lived for this, but I was not contented. You see, there was only two of us in the beginning. Mortem and I were the best of friends. I would send him gifts, and these gifts would be the best that I could offer. After all, Mortem was not just my friend. He was also my lover. We were in love. Time came when I had run out of gifts to give him, and I felt hopeless knowing that my imagination has

MARCH 11, 2017— It took a lot of brainstorming to figure out where our group was going to travel. We decided on the fact that we all want to keep it local. So we decided on Pampanga— Bacolor, Pampanga, to be exact. San Guillermo Church Before the trip, I did a little background check on San Guillermo church. I found out that it was first constructed by Augustinian Friars (same as the old churches in Bulacan like the one in Calumpit and the one in Bulakan), and it has stood its ground for nearly 440 years. But that’s not what peeked our interest into paying a visit. The church was as strong as an independent woman (no joke). It was hit by an earthquake in 1880 and was rebuilt in 1886, but that’s not the most tragic part. More recently, it fell victim to the aftermath of Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption, burying half of the church’s structure in lahar. But now, onto our visit. When we got to San Guillermo, we immediately took interest in the church’s grounds, more commonly known

The 1986 People Power Revolution celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Unknown to most of the youth today, it wasn’t entirely a peaceful revolution. There were all kinds of narratives about how soldiers and common folks pushed each other back and forth, how people would stand in front of military vehicles in hopes of putting a stop to the violence that would soon envelope the area. “The air was filled with the smell of gasoline, oil and exhaust. The crowd immediately surged in front of the tanks, some people literally trying to push them back. Women clutching rosaries were sobbing, convinced that the tanks were going to run them over. And yet they didn't move away.” After over two decades of President Ferdinand Marcos’s reign as dictator of the Philippines, the people devised what is known today as the “bloodless revolution”. This revolution aimed to overthrow Marcos and bring back the democracy in the Philippines. And despite the threats of the governme